This is a trend that was happening before Covid. Sucks but I think we hit peak motorsports with cigarette sponsorship. Energy Drinks carried it along for a while but that money is getting spread over an increasingly wider net. All that, sales being what they are in some sectors (Harley peaked 14 years ago), and that marketing / promotion looks different now. Factories don’t have to pay huge sums for a race program when they can hire influencers to do one offs for cheap, and likely reach a bigger audience.
Unfortunately, privately owned vehicles are not the way of the future. Other than cheap commuter bikes in third world nations, the day of the motorcycle is coming to an end. Enjoy it while it lasts.
it's a very risk averse, driverless society we are heading too. The Sci-Fi book Ready Player One pretty much is coming true right before our eyes. Everything delivered (Amazon Prime), go into the virtual world to interact (zoom/teams for school and meetings), show wealth by your avatar (the video game Fortnite does this by buying "skins" that don't give any advantage, but shows that you can buy clothes for your character).
After this year's MotoGP season, a sell out of dirt bikes and the pressure valve of Covid popping, you may see a new generation of fans who are tired of sitting at a computer. Big companies are bleeding money because of Covid (unless you are one of the few who gained from it) and things like sponsorship/advertising are the first things to be looked at. After seeing the YouTube home videos of things youngsters are going with parkour, skateboards, etc. I don't thing risk has totally been bred out of us. It isn't "politically correct" anymore, but that is like a magnet to youth. We may see more electric bikes (or something else) and the fortunes of manufactures, teams and how things are marketed may change, but it is hardly as pessimistic as everyone is moping about here.
A Joe Roberts/Boobie/GG landing in and making somewhat of a splash in motogp could reverse the fortunes of motorcycles in America quite quickly.
As much as I would love to say it would, I don't think so. Nicky Hayden was loved throughout the world, a world champion in the biggest stage, but ask 99% of Americans who he is, and you'll get a blank stare.
anytime i wear my Nicky Hayden shirt that just has "69" on the back and "champions are remembered" on the front i get funny looks... If Nicky didnt make motorcycles great in 2006 nobody will lol
Nah man, they might get the hardcore fans watching moto2 and WSBK but the average motorcyclist will just roll their eyes back into their heads and foam at the mouth from not knowing what the shit you are talking about. Like everything else all it would take is a lot of money to get the average 'merica caring about motorsports.
That's a awesome shirt! F1 barely blips the interest meter here and it's probably the most watched motorsport in the ROW. (I am not a fan of F1 myself, but it's not from a lack of trying) SUV racing though...that may get the 'Muricans riled up
F1 has been making pretty good inroads into the US market, ever since Liberty Media took it over. They been greatly expanding their social media presence, and have been putting out a ton of YouTube content that is free to let people slowly get themselves interested in the sport. USGP was a sellout last year, and viewership has had double digit growth since Liberty had a say in it. Dorna, on the other hand, puts everything behind a paywall, and don't really seem to grasp how to grow interest, especially in this market.
Watching what the PLL has done with men's lacrosse this year is a case study on how to build something up from almost ground zero. They are bringing in outside sponsors. Utz, Ticketmaster and some others and rumors are some other big companies are lining up to throw money at them. They got onto NBC and viewership was way up especially in that 18 to 30 something dude demographics. Their social media is insane in how they are hitting their target market. Motoamerica is doing a great job and is way up. I'm sure if they keep going they will be able to get more money into the sport. I like Utz. lol! The pandemic helped the PLL because they were the first sport to get up and running and onto tv. MA did a great job of getting going again during the scare and it paid off. I don't know if we will see factory teams coming back like in the past. DMG nailed three of the four appendages to the cross and coming back from that has been tough but not impossible. Time and cash will tell.
Ehh, Harley and Vance and Hines suck for what they did to Pro Stock bike. NHRA catered to them for far too long letting have whatever Byron wanted. Supercross has killed itself, the coverage is so over commercialized it’s unwatchable. Motocross is in a bad downswing in this area at least, all of the Saturday night tracks are pretty much gone. Seems like the off-road stuff has the best thing going now, live coverage on YouTube that doesn’t cost anything to watch and isn’t one endless commercial like Supercross. Lots more riders doing local series and even the GNCC and Enduro stuff also. It is far more sustainable. JMO